the night comes again
by 49shadesofgrey
Summary: He hangs around close enough to listen without seeming suspicious and finds out her name is Jade, and she likes room temperature bottled water in a cup with a straw. It's not much to go on (hell, he knows it's basically nothing to go on), but he becomes determined to properly meet her. or, the victorious 50 first dates au that no one really wanted, but i wrote anyway. r&r ok!
1. Chapter 1

Beck Oliver is on a date. Again. As usual. They all start out the same: he takes the girl to a restaurant he cites as his 'favorite' - really, it's the one his best friend and roommate works at, which means good food at a ridiculously discounted price, which means more money to spend on drinks and entertaining his company for the evening - but it's still a four star restaurant in Santa Barbara, so neither party complains.

The girl practically spills out of the door by the time dinner is over, Andre gives Beck a highly educated wink as he trails her out, and Beck just smirks back. Whatever else happens from that point forward is up to her, whether it's sex or a movie or her blowing him while they watch said movie - he's had a few who just go back to their hotels right after dinner. The picture is the same every time, really. The girls, his clothes, and the people around them are the only things that change day to day.

They'll ask about his job, how he manages to afford to take them to fancy restaurants like the one they'd just left, and how he keeps his hair so buoyant all the time. "I'm an actor," he shrugs, hands in his pockets as they walk along the lit up street. He's perfected the bashful, but not _too_ proud stance - the one that more often than not garners the reaction that makes him feel like he's really giving something back to the world with his talent. Her face usually lights up then, at least from experience, and it leads to questions about it - if he's just a pretty face, his favorite part he's played, his dream role. His rehearsed answers always come out as genuine as he needs them to. He's never let one know that he's never gotten more than a "glorified extra" role in a movie.

Then, he asks about her: what does she do, how long she's been doing it, what her favorite animal is, favorite color, movie, TV show. By the time the trivia round is over, they're back at his place for _whatever_ , and before long, she's either asleep in his bed or on his couch, or she's heading off in a taxi to her hotel (usually the latter) when Andre comes in to (begrudgingly) get the detailed play-by-play from Beck.

It's a fun facade to keep up, he thinks. He says it adds some depth to his real life character whenever he and Andre get to _that_ level of drunkenness while sitting at the restaurant's bar when Andre finally changes out of his whites for the night. They skip over that part of their semi-monthly chat tonight, though, to Andre's little relief. He's been watching Beck knock back drink after drink, and tersely waiting for some sort of stilted explanation for it.

"Man," Beck slurs, his sixth drink of the night, a third whiskey sour dangerously sloshing around and threatening to splash over the edge of the glass he swirls just a bit too freely. "We were _both_ supposed to be… be big by now, man. You with the music and me with the acting, man, it was gonna be-" he pauses to sip a bit more of his drink, "-amazing. You're not even _doing_ the music thing anymore, man, what's up with that?"

Andre snorts, resting his glass of water down on the countertop as he stared at his friend. "A dude's got bills to pay, man," he laughs. " _You_ don't need to be worried about stuff like that and can still go after your dreams and shit, 'cause I'm paying _you_ r bills too."

"Oh, yeah." And he's thankful for that, really. Beck couldn't be more grateful to have a friend who took him in and didn't try to rush him out without a second thought because he understands what it feels like to need to follow your heart. "But, you-you gotta get back into the music, man. 'Cause if _you_ don't make it, I sure as hell won't."

This conversation happens at least twice a month, usually right before Beck has a potentially career changing (or starting, for that matter) audition. Andre simply sighs, meeting his friend's glassy gaze with an unimpressed one of his own. "What time d'you have to be at the audition tomorrow?"

Beck groans into what remains of his drink at the premature thought of the audition. Typically, he holds out until at _least_ twenty minutes before to think about it fully. "I dunno," he grumbles, the glass against his lips still. "Like, 11, or something. Doesn't matter."

"The hell you mean 'doesn't matter'? This is what you wanted to do, right? Like, what you've _always_ wanted to do, so just do it. It matters, man, this could be it." Andre slides enough cash to the bartender to cover the arsenal of liquor Beck's gone through, and a tip, and gets up from his stool. "You need to get sleep, and I have a job to do tomorrow, anyway, so get your drunk ass up and out my restaurant."

He can't _not_ comply, really, because he owes everything to Andre - and, aside from that, he's right. He knows he should be running into these potential roadblocks head first, instead of constantly finding his own detours. "Alright, alright," he huffs, less-than-cautiously stepping down and away from the counter and lightly hitting his cheeks a few times. "See?" he holds his arms out as though he's completed some great and challenging task, " _Not_ drunk."

"Yeah, and _not_ driving, either," Andre laughs, clapping a hand on Beck's shoulder to guide him out of the restaurant with as few casualties as possible. It takes a two-handed shoulder guide, a quick street crossing before they're met by a group of women, and a puking scare (or… _three_ ) for him to get Beck into the car and to their apartment building. He's sobered up enough to get himself up the stairs and into the shower, then into bed just as Andre's bringing him a massive bottle of water and the entire bottle of Advil to give him (forcefully, if need be).

"Drink up, man," he says, half-amused at the sight of his friend sitting on the side of his bed, his head already dropped into his hands simply at the prospect of a hangover. "Told you to take it easy, didn't I? Nobody listens to Andre and this is what happens." Beck rolls his eyes as he takes two of the pills and downing a quarter of the liter bottle of water, then lackadaisically shoos Andre out of the room. He swings his legs up under the sheets and decides to welcome the anxious, restless sleep with open arms because tomorrow, he's going to start making more of the life he's currently living.


	2. Chapter 2

Cat cheerfully rings up another customer during the lunch rush - which isn't really much of a rush considering how small and inconspicuous the cafe is - and beams unabashedly as she titters, "Thank you, come back soon!" She's often met with a range of reactions, from utter surprise at someone so outwardly happy to irritation at someone so outwardly happy, but most people just smile politely in return.

It's packed on this particular day, this little hole-in-the-wall cafe in Santa Monica. Cat and Tori don't mind the crowd, even though half of them don't buy anything, and the ones that do buy only buy as small a drink as possible. It's for a good reason though, they both understand; today's one of the days that Jade spends performing at the front of the cafe, accompanied by Robbie on the guitar (but no one besides Cat really cares about who's sitting on the stool next to Jade). She's finishing up her rendition of "The House of the Rising Sun", and even before her last note, the walls practically crumble under the sheer volume of the applause that erupts from the crowd. "I'm taking a quick break, so…" she trails off into the mic after about a half hour of her continuous singing, to which the crowd expectedly reacts with a mild form of sadness.

She saunters over to the counter in that _Jade_ way - shoulders back and head held high, more than confident and knowing she's the best damn thing in the place - and leans against it for a swift moment before impatiently tapping her black colored nails against the surface. " _Cat_ ," she huffs, knowing she has a better chance of getting what she wants sooner if she gets it herself, but not wanting to waste the energy. "I need water."

"Busy!" Cat squeaks, hastily pulling the bill from the man in front of her's hand and trading it for the cup she held in her own. "Thankyoucomeagain!" She finds a second to glance at Jade, who is looking more and more displeased with being tasked to _wait_ like some... _patron_. "'Msorry! Just - Maybe get it yourself?"

She has to look up at Jade again because she can _feel_ how coldly her friend is glaring at her. "Um, Tori," she calls, frantically beckoning for the other girl to come over, "Tori! _TORI_ -"

" _WHAT,_ Cat?" Tori half-yells back at her. She glances over at Jade, whose icy stare is now directed towards her instead of their red headed friend. "D'you need something, Jade?" she asks in as neutral a tone as possible.

"Water. Room temperature. Cup. Straw." And with that, she Jade-walks back to the cafe's makeshift stage. Tori rolls her eyes as she bends to Jade's will, and Cat catches her.

"Be _nice_ ," she hisses, filling yet another cup with steamed milk. "Why're you always so rude to her?"

"Why is she always so rude to me when I'm just trying to help her out?" Tori rebuts quickly. "Just because of the acci-"

"Stop it!" Cat hisses and squeezes her eyes shut for a second at the partial mention.

"Sorry, sorry," Tori sighs, plopping a straw into the cup of water and removing herself from the situation before it escalates entirely. She brings it over to Jade with no more than a small smile and a hasty step, first handing her the cup and then resting the bottle at the foot of the stool. "All good?"

Jade maintains slightly unsettling eye contact as she brings the straw up to her lips and covers it with them. She sips the water slowly, still staring at Tori over the rim of the plastic cup and watching the poor girl practically fall apart with sudden anxiety over this innocent cup of water. "Yep, perfect," she says once she sets the cup down, even bothering to give the girl she affectionately calls 'Vega' a discernible not-scowl. Tori simply whirls around and walks as far away from her as quickly as she can.

Robbie looks up at her as he's tuning his guitar for their next little set and sighs. "D'you have to be so mean to her?"

Jade snorts in response, her hand on her hip, not even bothering to look in his direction. "I don't pay you to talk, do I?"

"You-You don't pay me at all!" He stammers, only slightly afraid of what she'll do or say next.

She whips her head around to glare at him, her patented scowl returned to its rightful place on her lips. "Maybe stop talking so much and I'll start." He opens his mouth to respond again, but thinks better of it when she narrows her eyes at him. "Anyway, I'm supposed to go get Vega's cake when we close up, so I can take you to your place."

He's... flabbergasted. "Was that an actual, _human_ offer? Like, from a person with a soul? All we needed was a cup of water to quell the beast? I feel like I just pulled the sword out of the stone and I'm-"

"Hey, remember what I said about not talking?"

"Yeah, but this-"

"Stop."

"Okay, but-"

"Talking."

He frowns, but obliges and sits back a bit to continue tuning his guitar. "It wasn't an offer, it was just me telling you what's going to happen when we close up today. So you're not lost and confused like always."

"I _do_ confuse easily," he mumbles in agreement. "Thank you, though. In advance-for the ride." Jade simply holds a hand up and continues drinking her water, unable to bear another second of Robbie's small talk.

When Cat practically leaps and bounds over to the two of them, a bright smile on her face, she makes her disdain audible with a pronounced, " _Ugh_ ," which kills the megawatt smile within a millisecond.

"Hey there, my little puff pastry," Robbie quips and moves his guitar off of his lap for Cat to sit.

" _Oh,_ my God," Jade groans before gagging aggressively, eliciting a momentary glare from the other girl.

"Sugar plum," Robbie continues once Cat gives him her attention, "Can you believe our friend, Jade-"

"Not your friend."

"-so graciously offered-"

"Didn't offer."

"-to give little ol' _me_ a ride home after closing?"

"Okay! I'm going wherever this _isn't_ happening!" She grabs her cup and power walks away from where the two are _canoodling_ , or whatever, opting to wait out the storm anywhere else.

That 'anywhere' ends up being near Tori, who's taken over the register for Cat. "Oh, no," she sighs as the last customer in the line takes their drink, leaving her with no viable barrier against talking to Jade. "What d'you want?"

She scoffs, mock offendedly. "So I can't just drop by to visit my _favorite_ person while she's at the register? Hmph."

"Your favorite person is probably six feet under somewhere," Tori mutters.

"You're right, I do have a real affinity for the long dead. Undead, too." She inhales deeply to mentally prepare herself for the sheer niceness of her next statement. "Speaking of undead, happy birthday, or _whatever._ "

Tori almost forgets. _It's not my birthday,_ she thinks, her mouth already slightly ajar to repeat the thought. She snaps it shut, though, as the light bulb flickers on in her mind. "You actually remembered? Wow. Who're you and what've you done with the real Jade West?" she teases haphazardly, hoping Jade thinks nothing of it.

"Cute," she remarks sarcastically. "Cat's making me pick up a cake for you, so just... y'know, act surprised later." Jade smiles in spite of herself, enjoying how fun it is to ruin a surprise, and saunters off.

The steady flow of people coming in and out mostly to hear Jade sing begins to dwindle a short while before they close up shop for the day. Tori goes around cleaning up the tables, quietly humming to herself as she adjusts everything that'd been moved throughout the day. Cat balances the register three times, then Robbie balances it another four, just in case.

"I'm gonna stay for the festivities," he chirps as he and Jade leave the cafe to head to her car. "The soirée. The shindig. The-"

"I get it!" She spits, reaching into her bag to get her keys. The other girls stand and watch them from the now closed cafe.

"How long are we keeping this up, Cat?" Tori steps back from the door, flipping the the 'welcome' sign over as the last chore of the night. She sighs at her friend, taking a seat on one of the stools that faces out of the window and turning to look at her. "We can't do this forever. I mean, I can't eat buttercream filled cake every night for the rest of my life!"

"I don't know!" Cat squeals, landing in a chair with an exaggerated huff. "I just... The doctors said-"

"I know what they said. I was there too."

"But it wasn't _your_ fault!"

It goes quiet in the building for a very long, tense minute. If there's anything Tori hates, it's this - having _this_ conversation with one of her closest friends, seeing her constantly chastise herself day in and day out for something that'd happened just over six months ago. No one blames Cat except Cat, and Tori only blames herself for not being able to fix that. "Maybe we could all..." she tucks some of her hair behind her ear and swallows thickly, not even attempting to look up at her just yet. "...I dunno. Sit down with her and very, very _gently_ tell her? Like all of us and her family?"

Cat shrugs, her gaze directed to the floor, and Tori knows this chat isn't going to break any more new ground than it already has. "Alright, well," Tori starts up again, albeit a bit exasperatedly, "Let's get the party stuff out then."


	3. Chapter 3

Beck feels like garbage the next morning, which he was expecting, really. But he loads into his car anyway, headshots and résumés checked and double checked, and drives off. He's singing along to his audition playlist, comprised mostly of classic rock, and is trying his best to only focus on the road in front of him for the next two hours.

He's in the middle of crooning along to "Sultans of Swing", about halfway between Santa Barbara and LA according to his phone, when smoke begins to billow from the hood of his car. "Come _on_ ," he groans once he pulls off the highway, slamming his hands down on the steering wheel. He seethes in his seat for another twenty minutes before a tow truck comes to get him to the nearest town and assess the damage.

"It'll be about an hour," the shop owner tells him, "And we'll call ya' with the diagnostics 'n' stuff."

' _No point in bein' mad about things you can't control,'_ he hears Andre preach in his head. Beck decides to listen to his seemingly always wise friend and just sighs, shakes the man's hand, and mutters, "Thanks."

The tow truck driver offers to give him a ride to one of his favorite spots in town to wait out the hour ("Or longer, y'know. Dude takes a while,"). Beck pays him with almost all the cash he has on him and thanks him for the ride. He's suddenly standing in front of a hole-in-the-wall cafe in the middle of some small, scenic town somewhere between Santa Barbara and Los Angeles, and he can't help but feel like this is only the kind of thing he's ever seen directed by someone else.

It's nicer than he thinks it'll be when he heads inside, but he's quickly jolted to a stop when he realizes there's a massive crowd spanning the width and almost the length of the space. He hears the guitar first, then the voice - the most passionate voice he's ever heard, he thinks - and he's just as captivated by the girl with the jet black hair as everyone else is. The trance is seemingly broken when she finishes her song and announces she's taking a break, and he rushes to beat the moving crowd to the counter. "Hi, um, whatever the biggest size coffee you have, I'll take. Black, three sugars." He pauses, then adds, "Please." The girl's name tag reads "Cat" in bubble letters, clearly reflective of her personality as she bounces around behind the counter fixing the drink for him.

"Here you go!" she squeaks, placing the cup into his hand and ringing him up.

He smiles at her, unable to feel any kind of melancholic self-pity for the turn his day had taken and pays the $2.68 for the coffee."Thanks, Cat." It's only when he looks up that he realizes the singer is standing next to him. "Uh, h-hi," he murmurs, a complete 180 from his typical approach to women.

She eyes him deliberately, then smirks at the way his gaze falls to avoid hers. She doesn't respond, but she asks Cat for a cup of water, who in turn asks the other girl, Tori, to get it for her. He hangs around close enough to listen without seeming suspicious and finds out her name is Jade, and she likes room temperature bottled water in a cup with a straw. It's not much to go on (hell, he knows it's basically _nothing_ to go on), but he becomes determined to properly meet her.

Beck musters up the courage he hadn't realized he'd lost and makes his way up to the front of the cafe to where Jade is leaning up against the mic stand and insulting the guitar player. "Hi... again," he shrugs, a hand in his pocket.

She quirks an eyebrow, intrigued but not ready to show it. "Didn't you already embarrass yourself enough at the counter?" She has to bite back a smirk and almost fails.

He chuckles softly, then shakes his head. "Apparently not."

She eyes him once more. "Robbie, leave."

Robbie looks up at the two of them, his eyes flicking to Beck for backup. "But I - I didn't even do anything! I wasn't-"

" _Now._ " She whips her head around to glare at him, but he's already scrambling to his feet to make his escape. She looks back to the man in front of her, clearly expecting something else. "So?" she asks, her tone a bit impatient.

"Uh, I... I wanted to tell you you have an amazing voice." He rolls his eyes at himself inwardly before the statement even finishes.

"I know," she smirks, crossing her arms over her chest. "Was that all?"

"Well, I..." He's surprised how quickly he finds himself out of his usual element. He decides to stick his hand out and smile. "I wanted you to know that I'm Beck."

"Like the singer?" She arches an eyebrow.

"Yes," he sighs, his hand still out for her to take, "Like the singer."

She eyes him once more before deciding to politely extend her own hand. "Jade."

"Like the rock?"

She smiles this time, even letting her teeth show a bit, to which he reciprocates the same way. "Exactly like that." They let their hands drop, and it's comfortably quiet between them for just a second before she says, "So... it's just Beck?"

Robbie scurries over to Cat and Tori, frantically gesturing behind him at the scene unfolding.

"What is it, Robbie?" The unnecessary and clearly misguided and misinformed worry in Cat's voice causes the other two to stare at her.

"Cat," Tori says slowly, then points over her shoulder to where Jade and Black Coffee, Three Sugars are talking,and apparently hitting it off. "Oh, my God, was that a _smile_?"

"I _know_ ," Robbie answers, eyes wide. "Is this some residual effect from... you know? Like, I know major head trauma can cause a complete personality change. I read one time about a guy who got impaled in the head and woke up completely fine but was like a totally different person!"

Cat's horrified look explains more than Tori can say. "I think she's just... flirting." The trio watches their friend for another moment, sharing the same shocked expression when she laughs a genuine, real life, not at the expense of another's well being laugh. "Holy-"

" _I know_."

"What? What do we know?" Cat pouts up at the two.

"Holy shit, Cat."

"...What?"

"No, that's - never mind." Tori simply shakes her head and returns her attention to Jade and Tall, Dark Roast, and Handsome to try and at least make an educated guess as to what it is they're saying that has Jade _laughing_.

She comes over to them a bit later, after No Milk takes a seat once again. They scramble to make themselves look busy, but her eyeroll and hasty, "Cut the crap," end that attempt quickly. "Birthday stuff not happening tonight," Jade announces, "Not on my end, anyway. Which means you'll have to suffer through getting the cake all on your own."

Robbie gapes, Cat gasps, and Tori... tries her best not to look relieved or amused. "But... It's Tori's bir-"

"No!" Tori exclaim quicker than she can filter herself. The three look at her, sharing the same inquisitive look. "I mean... Jade... doesn't have to stay here if she doesn't want to. Birthdays happen all the time, it's not a big deal!"

"Right... Whatever, weirdo." Jade turns her attention to Cat, who seems to be the only one really broken up about this turn of events. "I'm going on a date with Beck." She points over her shoulder at him and shrugs. "You'll be okay. It's just cake. We can get cake at literally any point in time."

Tori isn't sure if Cat is actually upset about not following the same routine they have every night for six months, but she smiles at Jade. "Have fun tonight, you deserve it!"

"And you think you know what _I_ deserve, eh, Vega?"

"Wha-no, I just-how did you manage to find something offensive in that?"

Jade glares, which is answer enough for Tori's question. She instead turns her attention to Robbie. "Hey, Four Eyes. We have things to do. Stop canoodling or whatever and let's _go_."

"I hate it when you call me that," he grumbles.

"Funny, I don't recall asking," she answers, then turns on her heel to return to the stage.

Tori and Cat's eyes are on either Jade or Black Coffee Guy ( _Beck_ , Tori reminds herself consistently) or both throughout the rest of the day. Tori catches Jade's little glances at him during her songs, and Cat notices that he has a hint of a smile on his face that just never seems to go away whenever he looks at her. "This," Tori whispers to her friend, "Isn't good."

The three wave Jade off once they've closed up for the day, and Beck can't help but chuckle. "They're protective of you."

"I know," she groans, "It's the worst." She pulls out her keys and stands facing him. "You asked me out," she says, dropping them into his hand, "You take me where we're going."

"Fair," he nods. She's surprised at the lack of a fight or complaint - pleasantly, though, and she slides into the passenger seat. "We're going to the auto shop."

"Auto shop?" she repeats, incredulous.

"Yep. My car's ready."

They get his car, drive separately back to the cafe, then drive off to dinner in his so that he can go straight home after their date. It's been a long time since either of them have felt such a strong connection with another person. He keeps her laughing and she keeps him guessing, and it's nothing like they've ever really experienced before.

"We'll have to wrap this up early," he says before they've ordered dessert. "My drive home's two hours long and I don't really want to be stuck on the highway in the middle of nighttime traffic."

She hums, letting her eyes fall to her glass which seems far less suspicious than them falling to the floor. She remembers from their earlier conversation that he's from Santa Barbara, so she knows he isn't just trying to sneak off. He can see she seems disappointed, so he clears his throat. "Hey, what if I came back tomorrow? I'll pick you up, we can go to the beach or something. Spend the day or whatever."

"Hm." Jade ponders this suggestion for a moment, pretending to weigh the options in her head. "Fine. But if you stand me up or something, I'll have someone castrate you in your sleep," she smiles.

He can't stop himself from smiling back when she does. "...You know someone who can do that?"


End file.
